'Shocked' wife of accident victim ponders future

A WIDOW and her young daughter are lamenting the loss of their only breadwinner who died in a car crash yesterday.

The family of the deceased, Sarwan Singh, was in shock at the tragic turn of events at Davuilevu.

Mr Singh, a taxidriver, was involved in a vehicle collision with a bus in Davuilevu, Nausori, and died upon impact. He was to turn 40 in May.

His wife, Shila Wati said: "I was shocked about the news because I didn't know what happened.

"My daughter was in school, her grandparents had to go and pick her up. We are still in shock."

Mrs Wati said her daughter, Radha Priya, was close to her father.

"My daughter is feeling very depressed right now and she couldn't believe what has happened because yesterday her father hugged her for the last time before he left for work," said Mrs Wati. "Right now I can't think about what to do in the future for me and my daughter.

"I'll have to take things one at a time, but my priority is my daughter's education."

Meanwhile, residents of Davuilevu have called on authorities to install speed bumps along the road.

Concerned resident Narain Swamy said this was not the first fatal accident in the area.

"This is the first road accident to have claimed a life of a person this year, but he now becomes the sixth victim to have lost his life on this road," Mr Swamy claimed.

"The authorities need to seriously put in strict road measures to control speeding vehicles here. We fear for the lives of our children and our community members."

Another concerned resident, Tara Ratubalavu, said drivers needed to think of pedestrians walking on the roadside.

The bus driver, Arvind Nair, claimed the taxi was travelling at high speed and headed directly towards the bus.

"He wanted to cut his bend with speed, but he couldn't. He lost control and came for the bus," Mr Nair claimed.

"I only tried to save the bus and the passengers when the collision happened because the bus can easily tumble," he said.

Meanwhile, police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said a post-mortem examination would be carried out on the victim.